


Old Times' Sake

by cherwonu (starrysehun)



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Childhood Friends, M/M, slight angst maybe, unrequited feelings, wonwoo is there but not much
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:07:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26021656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starrysehun/pseuds/cherwonu
Summary: Hansol doesn’t like how his heart is the only thing that doesn’t change throughout the years.
Relationships: Boo Seungkwan/Chwe Hansol | Vernon
Comments: 6
Kudos: 49
Collections: Challenge 1: Kidult





	Old Times' Sake

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first ever seventeen fic I never thought I would write. Thank you mods for making this fest happen.

The place has changed from what Hansol remembered. The painted wooden board is replaced with a shiny neon sign saying _Jeon’s Tteokbokki._ When he kept staring at it, wanting to picture how it was before, it flickered as if taunting him. He gives up and enters the tteokbokki stall, pocketing his phone at which he had been staring as he contemplated. 

It had been twelve years since he last came to that place, wearing his school uniform, hands linked with his best friend. Everything seemed so simple back then. They didn’t have a care in the world. It used to be just them and their dreams they once swore they would achieve no matter what. 

The signboard isn’t the only thing that has changed. The owner isn’t the old lady that used to smile at Hansol whenever she served them. It is someone younger, probably around his age, who looked a lot like Mrs Jeon, that stands at the counter. 

Hansol takes a glance at the farthest corner, which used to be their usual place to occupy because it used to be peaceful without the drunk ahjussis. He doesn’t think twice before walking there and plopping in one of the seats. The wall isn’t white anymore; he only notices after a closer look. It’s creamy now. He stares at a particular spot where he knows _Hansol Seungkwan_ has been scribbled somewhere under the new paint with a heart in between them. 

Just thinking about that name makes him smile. Then follows the slight pang of bitterness. Honestly, who is to blame? 

  
  
  


It has been two hours since he landed in Seoul. It takes him two hours to gather courage and call his friend to announce that he’s there. Seungkwan’s reaction is just as he expects. Surprised but still manages to swear at him for giving a heart attack. 

“Seungkwan-ah,” it’s a wonder how the way he calls his name doesn’t change, “I am at our tteokbokki place. Let’s eat here.”

Seungkwan stays silent for two seconds. “Are you for real? That place is like one hour drive from where I live. And it's 10PM!”

Hansol chuckles, “That’s still less than my fourteen hours flight. Please Seungkwan, for the old times' sake.”

It takes even longer for him to answer as if he’s making his mind. “Out of all places you could’ve chosen, you chose Jeon’s tteokbokki. My place is twenty minutes away from the airport, you idiot.”

Hansol is an idiot, he agrees. 

So many things had changed in those twelve years and it looks like Hansol failed to catch up with those changes. 

  
  
  


He doesn’t take his eyes off the entrance, in case he misses Seungkwan entering. He imagines a short boy, with chubby cheeks and betrayed pout, in his school uniform, complaining as he finds his way there. He knows he’s being silly but a heart wants what it wants. He knows Seungkwan is nothing like what he just imagined. They are following each other in sns and have been face-timing twice a year. His cheeks have sunken a little, chiseling his features making him look more handsome and his voice has changed too. 

When Seungkwan shows up, it’s nothing like what he had imagined. It’s just the Seungkwan he sees in his Instagram posts, with a dim smile and tired eyes. Did time steal away the brightness he emitted as a teenager?

Seungkwan wanted to be a singer while Hansol wanted to study journalism. His dream is the reason why they had to drift apart. A college in New York had offered him a seat and his family thought it would be better if they moved there. Even though they weren’t happy at the thought of getting separated, they believed they would unite again in the near future after achieving their dreams. It took fourteen years for them to meet each other again and their dreams stayed just as dreams. Seungkwan has a desk job that paid well and Hansol drifted away from his prior goal halfway, choosing another path because life always doesn’t go the way we want it to. It felt like they were forced to grow up in a way they don’t want to. 

It’s funny how two friends who used to talk about anything and everything, are now finding it hard to have a conversation going on. It feels like someone suddenly snatched the only constant thing from his good days that is Seungkwan. 

But he tries. He keeps the conversation alive and Seungkwan follows his lead. They talk about their careers, their past, little memories they find hidden around the nook and corner of that place. When Hansol runs out of things to ask Seungkwan about, he prepares his heart and asks about his family. 

Seungkwan's face lights up a little as he speaks about his little family, his pretty wife and his two years old daughter. Hansol tries to ignore the prick in his heart. He’s happy for his friend, even though he had spent his younger days thinking about building a family with him. They stayed as dreams; silly wishes he had as a kid. 

By the time they finish their food, it’s already time for Hansol to leave. He realises that the kid inside him has to grow up too. Despite all the changes around him, he feels like his heart is the only thing that refused to change. 

  
  
  


“Call me once you reach home.” It’s something they used to tell each other.

There are still things that don't change, he realises. 

Like how the tteokbokki is so tasty that he had the urge to ask for a second serving. Like how the owner had the same smile as Mrs Jeon. Like how Seungkwan’s name tastes sweet and soft. Like the way he looks at Seungkwan. It’s all those little things that Hansol notices and that comforts the child in him. 

Just because others grow up doesn’t mean he should; that it’s not wrong to be a child inside. 


End file.
